The DP's United Democratic Alliance party, on whose ticket Ruto is running for president, on Thursday rejected Sports Kenya's decision to block them from the venue of August 6.
This comes even as the DP's presidential campaign secretariat confirmed that he will next Tuesday attend the much-anticipated presidential debate, where he is set to face Azimio La Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
Ruto's UDA claimed that it booked and reserved the refurbished 30,000-seater stadium on July 9 as the venue for Kenya Kwanza's final rally.
Addressing the press at Ruto's Westlands command centre, head of Ruto’s campaigns, Josphat Nanok, said the party booked the venue first.
“We signed the contract with the body [Sports Kenya] on July 9 after paying and given the receipts, and by that time, there was no other political camp or organisation that had shown interest in using the stadium,” Nanok said.
The Turkana governor insisted that Sports Kenya —the state agency that manages national stadias — should produce evidence that the venue had been booked earlier enough by other groups.
"We are prepared to challenge the Ministry of Sports, legally, on August 3, because we have a signed contract. The contract hasn't been cancelled," he said.
Sports Kenya, which is a parastatal in the Ministry of Sports, on Wednesday wrote a letter to UDA secretary general affirming that the stadium will not be available to them between August 5 and 7.
“We regret to inform you that due to a peace concert scheduled to take place at both Moi International Sports Centre —Kasarani and Nyayo National Stadium between August 5 to 7 2022, the facility will not be available for their use," the letter reads in part.
The letter was signed by Sports Kenya director general Pius Metto and copied to Sports Cabinet Secretary, the principal secretary and Sports Kenya chairman Charles Waithaka.
However, Ruto's team holds that the agency has decided to block them out of Nyayo under duress from the state to allow their opponents, Raila's Azimio la Umoja, to use the venue.
“Indeed, we received the notice of cancellation of our permit but that is a breach of contract and we know it has been done under duress and shall be moving to court to challenge it,” Nanok said.
“We want the ministry concerned to revert back to the contract we signed and let Azimio look for another venue. Nairobi is big, Kenya is big and they can hold their rally elsewhere because we are prepared for it.”
The use of Nyayo stadium by political rivals for their final rallies is turning into a major tussle, reminiscent of past squabbles over venues that ended up in courts.
The same scenario is likely to replay in next month's final days of presidential campaigns as both teams seek strategic venues for their final pitch to voters before election day.
Azimio la Umoja party on Tuesday, announced that they will be holding a final campaign at the stadium on August 6, the same day UDA is seeking to use the premise.
“The Azimio campaign team, led by #babanamartha, will hold its last official campaign meeting in Nairobi on 6th August 2022 at Nyayo Stadium. #ilnawezekana!” read a statement from the coalition party secretary general Junet Mohamed.
Head of communication in the UDA campaign team Hussein Mohamed has, on the other hand, said Ruto will attend the presidential debate but issued conditions to the organisers.
He said the organisers must make public the time allocated for the candidates to explain their plans for Kenyans, after days of uncertainty over his attendance.
“While we do not object to the questions being asked in the debates, we object to trivialising such engagements to the detriment of Kenyans,” he said.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
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